One of the first times I travelled up to the Northwest for Sittin’ Pretti’s Summer Slam, I met a small group of guys wearing black shirts, black socks, and camouflage shorts—a slight deviation from the normal “minitrucker uniform.” Across the front of each of their shirts in red letters was Twisted Creations—the name of a club that I hadn’t heard of before. Over the next 10 years of visiting the Great Wet North, I would come to consider them friends.

The guys from Twisted came in all shapes and sizes, and I was introduced to a rail-thin dude named Kevin, who I later learned had been building a Mazda B2000 for the longest time. Richy Strong had initially ’bagged, ’bodied, and shaved the truck at Bruno’s House of Hack; however, as time progressed, the Mazda was stripped back down. The suspension was reworked, the frame was painted, and a new firewall was fabricated.

Kevin would show up to Summer Slam each year and just sit back and watch his friends’ finished trucks get shot for features. This exclusion helped push him through the tough times when, like a lot of us stuck in long project builds, he wanted to throw in the towel, give it the finger, and walk away. He pushed through that frustration and found a light at the end of the tunnel.

First and foremost, Kevin decided that he wouldn’t change the truck to cater to current trends. Big wheels, bead-rolled panels, dimple-die-punched inserts, and skulls are all fine and good, but they weren’t going to be found anywhere near his build. With help from Josh Jones of Jones Paint Innovations, the two took a simple two-tone paint scheme and expanded on the idea until the Twisted Tiki theme was sketched out as a full rendering.

This new game plan was like a direct adrenaline injection into the slowly beating heart of a tired project. Over the next several months, Josh airbrushed the bamboo split between the two-tone paint and added tiki-themed pieces to the bed and inner fenders.

The interior was recreated outfitted with fiberglass and torch-red vinyl by Stitches Custom Upholstery. Real pieces of bamboo were used to accent the dash, door panels, and under the front bumper. Speaking of which, you may have looked at the custom front bumper and scratched your head a bit. Richy and Kevin used an ’02 GMC bumper, flipped it over, and worked a little magic to create the unique nose.

Kevin, Twisted Creations, Jones Paint Innovations, and Stitches Custom Upholstery created a tikified piece of rolling aloha, and for those of you keeping track at home, that’s another point for the Northwest.

Big wheels, bead-rolled panels, dimple-die-punched inserts, and skulls are all fine and good, but they weren't going to be found ...

Special Thanks From Owner
“I want to thank Richy and Kenny Strong for taking me under their wing and really getting me into building trucks. I have to give a huge thank you to Josh Jones for a killer paintjob and really helping me get the truck finished in the last couple of months. I also want to thank my beautiful girlfriend Jenny who has stuck by my side throughout the build and who has encouraged me to finish my dream once and for all. Thank you to everyone who has lent a hand in the build, and thanks to Twisted Creations.”